Stormwatch
by BlackSheepWall
Summary: [AU] A loose collection of declassified debriefing reports, combat logs, and various records regarding the Third War


Hi, I know I have been away for a long time. I would like it if you all ignored my profile page and its written contents, and any previous stories that I have wrote. I would like to start afresh. Thank you. I admit that my work needs help, and I would gladly correct any faults brought up to me.

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"_Duty is as heavy as a mountain, death as light as a feather"_

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_'Black Hole must NOT be allowed to continue to develop their fortifications here__. If they do, they position themselves strategically at the centre of population centres 3, 13, and 24. We would then be forced to either spread our forces thin enough to defend them all and lose the initiative, or collect our forces and risk losing any one of them- and a quarter of a million innocents as a result- to a rapid attack. We lack the armour to punch through their lines groundside, and so, must be prepared take them from the skies. Godspeed, men.'_

-Warmaster Cain, to his soldiers, just before they were deployed via Capsules into the Melque Combat Sector.

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The sky thundered.

"Fireteam two, ETA groundside, thirty seconds!" a speaker embedded inside the pod coolly said, as a ball of fire descended from the skies, accompanied by dozens more. Each contained four men, and each of those men felt that if they survive this drop, they can survive anything. The pods groundward descent continued at near-suicidal speeds, and if the brakes or any of the backup failsafes fail, the most all of the pods occupants could hope for was a painless, if slightly hot, death.

"Activating airbreaks," the speaker again announced with an inhuman calm as the ceramic casings of each individual pod cracked and opened at predetermined fault lines, swinging on reinforced hinges to become crude soild 'parachutes' weighing half a ton each. The fireballs ceased to be, and instead became clearly defined falling objects each bearing four humanoid shapes. Ground-based anti-air emplacements also began lighting up one by one as the Black Hole defenders began to realize that those fireballs were not just some unexploded high-altitude missile cluster.

A barrage of flechettes screamed past Nathan's pod, and the soldier began to worry if he would be shredded before he reached maximum drop altitude. Looking around him, he saw an entire pod burst into a cloud of red as it flew right into a pathway of concentrated fire, its occupants not having even the time to scream.

That's it, Nathan thought, as he flicked open the release button with his right thumb. As fireteam leader and therefore the commander of the pod, he had the authority to decide when to deploy, safety regulations be dammed. His thumb hovered above the red button, as if hesitating, before throwing all doubts to the wind and pressed it. A nauseating feeling of weightlessness filled his body as the safety straps- the only thing anchoring his team to the pod- automatically unbuckled and let loose its cargo. As Nathan fell, he looked up just as he saw the pod turn into scrap metal as it was hit with dozens of hypervelocity rounds.

"Look sharp, team" he radioed, as he fluidly checked his weapon, ignoring the terrifying howl of wind all around him as he fell. He still had a couple of hundred metres to go before he made landfall, plenty of time to make sure his gear would survive the impact. He double checked his heads up display (or HUD, as many people liked to call them) and locked himself into position, arms and legs straight, parallel to the body, almost as if he was standing at attention in parade ground.

"TEAM" he bellowed, "TO THE EVERLASTING GLORY OF THE INFANTRY!"

The ground puckered up.

Proximity sensors embedded into his fatigues detected the fast approaching landmass, and initiated a series of protocols designed to prevent the death of a good soldier.

Solid-fuel rockets fired from the shin armour plates as well as from various points of the body, just as the distance between man and earth closed under fifty metres. Nathan felt the rapid-if rough- deceleration, and braced for hard contact just like the simulations.

Boot met ground, and tremendous forces of physics made themselves felt. Nathan's subconscious tried to imagine a femur breaking, but for naught, as the hydraulic actuators built into each and every White Sun soldier's combat gear strained and whined to compensate and succeeded. Still, the impact made Nathan squat slightly, and he recovered quickly. His teammates quickly formed up around him, covering every vector of attack as the smoke from the impact cleared. Nathan, realizing that they have all managed to land in a Black Hole trench, allowed himself a smile and a small thank you to the powers that be.

His fireteam worked magnificently, two guns to each end instantly after their HUDs outlined their surroundings with rudimentary graphics, penetrating the settling debris cloud with all forms of sensors. Two Black Hole soldiers immediately died to two rounds, and Nathan considered on the next course of action. Around him his fellow soldiers are also making landfall, their dispersal greatly confusing the Black Hole defense grid, making their numbers to seem greater than it is. Hence, Nathan's first task must be to take advantage of this 'fog of war' to assist in the next wave's landing.

"Follow me!" he ordered, and three battle-bonded soldiers radioed their assent.

They moved through the trenches, slaughtering as they came. Their primary objective, set by their leader, is to disable as many anti-air guns as possible, and they made their way towards the nearest emplacement that is setting fire to the skies. Already resistance is increasing, and as Nathan's fireteam made their way to the gun, they were met with a minor Black Hole squad just after they turned the final corner.

Reflexively, Nathan backed up and felt his rifle chatter, a three-round burst before the capacitors automatically stopped to cool down. Two soldiers fell as a result, one from a sudden and fatal brain cavity, another from two rounds to the neck, puncturing their armour and quasi-life support. One of Nathan's teammates knelt at the edge of the corner, and steadily emptied his magazine of ammunition at the enemy, the slow three-round tempo killing an exposed soldier outright and forcing the others to back down from their firing positions. Nathan took this chance and motioned for a second teammate to take his place, while he took his final team member for the advance. Both of them slowly crept towards the enemy, keeping their heads down and their movements measured, their HUDs painting a grim scenery of eerie green lines and designated targets. As they neared the gun's nest, Nathan fluidly unhooked a canister from his waist belt with his free hand, and primed the grenade with a swift flick of his thumb.

"Fire in the Hole" he radioed, as he knelt and rolled the small thing towards the enemy position, face grim. Just as the grenade lightly touched an unaware Black hole soldier, it electronically lighted its 'fuse'. Immediately a countdown appeared on everyone's HUD in bold green, beginning with "06.00"

"04.56", Nathan hurriedly moved back to his comrades, throwing away all pretense of stealth, as did his teammate next to him. Back at the corner, both members were also giving their all, overriding and heating up their gun's magnetic capacitors to dangerously high levels as they emptied everything they got at the enemy.

"03.15", Nathan saw that they would make it, but kept on running. His buddy also ran, but a pot shot with an automatic weapon by some Black hole soldier struck his right calf in multiple locations, with at least a single round somehow managing to penetrate the centimetre-thick armour, tearing through a critical artery and severing the hamstring. Blood began to flood out of the entry and exit wound.

"Ag-!" the soldier cried, crumpling to the ground clutching the injured leg. Nathan looked around and instinctively ran back to aid his comrade. There might still be enough time to drag his teammate out of the area of effect before the grenade detonated and he absolutely refused to just leave the injured behind to watch them die from a hole in the ground. It went against every moral value in the book.

"Goddammit trooper, you can still make it!" he shouted, as he ran back, slung the soldier's arm around his back and tried to drag them both to relative safety.

"02.00", he saw that there is no time, and instinctively threw the warrior to the ground, ignoring the grunts of pain, and flung himself on top, self preservation the last thing on his mind.

"01.00", His teammate pushed him to one side roughly with surprising strength and, with a groan of pain, rolled over _him_. Nathan was taken by surprise, and could only say, "Why-" before stopping as an answer was given.

"00.45", Nathan's two soldiers covering their retreat ducked, and the suppressive fire stopped.

"Because I love you" the soldier on top of Nathan said, as she reached out and kissed him firmly on the lip.

The timer hit "00.00"

A bright blue flash erupted, a hemisphere of pure light. As with any HAND-grade plasma detonation, All exposed personnel within five metres of that anti-air emplacement would have been blinded irregardless of where they were looking, right before a torrent of superheated ions liberate them from their mortal coil. The gun itself would have been reduced to nothing but gaseous particles and flung to the wind

Nathan felt his retina burn due the flash coming from his peripheral vision, but did not die, as he felt the body shielding him heat up and fade away.

As the plasma consumed itself and ended the destruction, leaving behind a significantly different-looking place, both of Nathan's other teammates ran forward towards their leader, not knowing what happened but praying he survived. As they reached him, they saw that he was still breathing, shallowly, and felt to the touch unbearably hot. His skin was charred to the bone in more than one location, armour sacrificed into vapour. Dozens of Black Hole infantrymen suddenly rose up from their own hiding-holes and pointed their rifles at them, clearly surrounding the three. The two able-bodied White Sun soldiers looked at their opponents, then at themselves, then at their team leader, judging and weighing the odds of survival. Within moments a conclusion was drawn. The men backed up until their backs were to each other...

...And began firing.

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Pain...

Incredible... Incredible pain...

... But not as bad as the pain in his heart...

Nathan has always felt affection for Sarah, ever since she joined his team. The only reason he never upgraded their relationship from professional to personal was because he did not want to seem partial to her, and quite possibly break up the team, preventing them all from seamlessly working together as a single entity in combat, preventing them from effectively performing their duty, and hence, reducing their chance of survival.

He knew Sarah reciprocated the feeling, and also knew that she knew that their duty came first.

But now… he is not so sure. Only when it is too late, does he realize that they should have taken that chance… that leap of faith... to be happy.

Looking up to the skies with retina-burned eyes, he gave a small grin. He knew Venn and Lionel would come for him, that they would either end his life and move on, or stay here until backup arrives. He cared not which.

The sky tumbled upon itself, churning with apparent pain...

... And birthed hundreds of pods. The anti-air began firing, again, but this time its battery fire was significantly lighter. Larger shapes resembling an amalgamation of wings and ovals, created massive eddies as they broke through the black barrier that is the clouds.

The sound of gunfire rippled through the air, too many to have been coming from his remaining mates, and he knew that soon, his ruined body would be captured... To be interrogated, to be forced to reveal secrets, to betray-...No... He cannot, will not, allow this...

In his HUD, he saw his teammate's vital signs flutter violently, then flatline, one after the other, and knew that only he now remains...

Good.

He took out another grenade from his waist belt, deactivated the proximity fuse with a flick, and primed it. A countdown appeared on his HUD. "06.00"

Then it ticked, the number turning to "05.00"

As it counted towards the end, he suddenly remembered something, from a novel he had read years past:

"Duty is as heavy as the mountains, while death is as light as a feather."

He has done his duty, and now it is time… to be free.

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_A point of note, even though the first wave of the White Sun Combat Interdiction Forces deployed during that battle (Second Battalion "Roughnecks", 4__th__, 16__th__, 23__rd__, and 56__th__ Platoons), inserted by atmospheric pods, suffered nearly eighty percent casualties, their initiative in battle allowed them to quickly take out enough Black Hole anti-air installations to allow the second, main wave to land in sufficient numbers to rout the Black Hole army and drive them out of the Melque Basin, a strategic location in the Atl'and Mountain Range which would allow the bulk of the shattered White Sun Military to regroup and attack, eventually leading to the Battle of the Ash Tree Gorges, which liberated the Uteque mountain passage that, until then, divided the White Suns from their Grey Heaven allies. Their combined forces would then eventually drive out Black Hole from the Atl'andian Mountain Ranges during Operation: Garden67, and join forces with the JSAT Armies (Joint States Alliance Treaty, the Wars World version of NATO) in their major counterattack against Black Hole.  
_


End file.
